The South Sydney five-eighth was part of the side which was thumped 56-12 by Penrith in the Rabbitohs' Dubbo match in 2021, and on Sunday he was captain of the side that suffered a 32-12 loss to the Canberra Raiders.

Despite the hugely disappointing loss, one that has the Rabbitohs clinging to their place in the NRL's top eight, it didn't stop Walker and his teammates from making their way around Apex Oval at full-time and posing for countless photos and signing hundreds of autographs for fans young and old.

"It's very important that we bring games out here to the country areas," Walker said.

"The numbers in the bush are slowly dying and obviously this was a disappointing result but at the end of the day the fans are what keeps us playing the games and keeps us paying the bills."

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Walker knows the Dubbo region well, having not only played at Apex Oval last seasons but also visited the area in recent years as part of his role as a Wellington Aboriginal Corporation Health Service ambassador.

The Origin representative has been at Wellington's Kennard Park for Group 11 matches in the past, helping promote healthy living and educating the community.

He and fellow Rabbitohs proved hugely popular with young footy fanatics during those visits, and the past week was no different.

A number of retired Rabbitohs were part of the Souths Cares charity group that visited a host of schools around Dubbo in the lead-up to Sunday's game, while injured Souths player Jed Cartwright was among those who helped run a bumper junior clinic at Apex Oval last Thursday night.

"Those little kids don't understand the losses that happen and they don't really care. They want to see the footy players and us showing some time and effort," Walker said.

"It was a great week and we've been out in the community but if you look at the game side of it, it was quite disappointing. But at the end of the day the kids mean a whole lot to me."

Despite two heavy losses at Apex Oval the past two years and some Rabbitohs fans stating the trip to Dubbo was a cursed one, many in red and green said they would be willing to return next season.

The initial agreement was for two years but the hope is NRL will be seen at Dubbo again next in 2023.

"For sure. It's not the venue," coach Jason Demetriou said post-game.

"That performance was very different to the performance here last year."

The warning bells were ringing almost immediately for Souths on Sunday as Junior Tatola suffered a head knock when attempting the first tackle of the game.

He didn't return while Souths also lost winger Taane Milne to the concussion ruling in the first half, something Demetriou questioned after the match.

"We lost Taane at 8-0 and we just feel like we've got to solve the problem and come up with a quick fix and it's never going to be a quick fix against Canberra," Demetriou said.

"Every game we've played against them the last few years has been neck-and-neck with 20 to go and there's been high completions and a lot of resilience shown.

"We just weren't prepared to do that tonight and it put a lot of pressure on our defence. In saying that, I feel we weren't aggressive enough. We didn't have an aggressive enough mindset today and there was 40-odd missed tackles and that sums us up.

"We're showing some good signs and some not such good signs so we're still striving for that consistency."

The Rabbitohs are back at their regular home ground next weekend for a meeting with Wests Tigers.